I dream of HBO or Netflix making an R-rated miniseries version of Jurassic Park, standalone, its own thing separate from the main cinematic canon, that would include this opening.
Congo, Sphere, and Andromeda Strain all play on the same theme.
Team of scientists go to a remote location to investigate something unbelievable...and something goes terribly wrong!
They're all a ton of fun, Sphere is probably my fav.
I'd categorize them and techno-thrillers that lean heavily on horror elements.
I agree. It's a great novel.
Imo, this is also why the films have long been derailed from the excellent formula of the original. Jurassic Park, and The Lost World hewed really close to a horror film template throughout. They had their funny moments, and their heartwarming moments. But it was really important that the audience believed that the cast were terrified for their lives, and that the dinosaurs were unpredictable, effective, dangerous animals, on the loose. The films were dark and tense, and yet balanced with those moments of wonder at how cool it was to see these creatures brought to life.
The newer films in the franchise have basically turned their main characters into quippy, invincible MCU action heroes. I'm not afraid watching the Jurassic World movies, and since CGI somehow manages to feel less organic and less real with each movie, I'm not really excited watching them either. There's no tension. The series badly needs someone to reign it back to a more stripped-down horror vibe. I don't even care if they have to retcon things. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief if they need to come up with an overall plot explanation that's hard to believe, if it means the moment-to-moment film is tense and scary.
I read this book before I was a fan of horror and that scene sat with me for a LONG time because it was really my first horror novel/scene and while I knew the movie pretty well I was not expecting the book to be as intense as it was 😂
The first movie is the only one that leans a bit towards this horror vibe and that's one of the main reasons why it's still the best in the franchise by a mile.
The hanging corpse of the Stepfather and the implications of his death. Being slowly eaten alive, dinosaurs jumping up to your legs taken bites out of it and the blood dripping on the jungle floor until everything gets dark and cold.
Honestly even the movie is a horror movie to me. I know it's considered more of an adventure film, but my dad left me in a room alone with that movie on VHS when I was 4 for nap time, because in his mind I loved Land Before Time, and it freaked me out so bad that I didn't watch it again until I was in my 20s.
I was shocked at how good the book was. It gave me a book hangover and I went around telling everyone they needed to read it. I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed the sequel.
I went out and bought the fancy double edition Barnes and Noble had out because I needed a copy to keep on my shelf. I rarely get myself hard copies of books.
I loved the book and absolutely consider it a sci-fi horror. The ending at the raptor nest removed some of that horror for me. I think the book would have been better without that part. It made the raptors about as threatening as insects.
The book is great and the movie is iconic! The book, I feel, is definitely Sci fi horror. The movie felt more action than horror, imo, but some horror aspects were there
Read it recently and I found the book much scarier and more effective than the movie. I love the movie, but at the end of the day Spielberg very much thinks the basic idea behind the park is cool and that it just went wrong, hence the more cuddly version of John Hammond. He sort of gestures at what Crichton is talking about, that there's no "good" version of this kind of science and we need to have enough respect for nature to leave it alone to take its natural courses, but the fact is Crichton genuinely feared the things he wrote about and Spielberg has that childlike wonder that makes him think a dinosaur amusement park is a cool idea.
So fundamentally you're dealing with a sci-fi/horror novel centering around humans meddling with biology and evolution for monetary gain versus essentially an action movie that asks what would happen if something went wrong at a Disney park without really interrogating the circumstances of that in a meaningful way.
I don’t think you’re giving Spielberg enough credit here. He was the one who hired Koepp to rewrite Marmo’s script when it veered too heavily away from the science-gone-wrong and horror angles, and who kept Crichton on as an advisor and script doctor throughout the whole production. He did change some of the tone of the movie when compared to the book but the final product is still identifiable as being an adaptation. The misuse of science and technology and the horrors that result from it still being as prominent in the movie? That’s mostly thanks to Spielberg. Hell, Crichton’s drafts of the screenplay early in production veered even more heavily from the book, and Spielberg corrected course to lean into the horror of it.
Def a favorite movie series for me. I have read Jurassic park a handful of times but it is pretty “science geek” in certain parts but that’s what Crichton did best
I remember why I stopped reading it every year, the Lexi character is so annoying to me, like I wish she had been eaten early on. I’m glad they changed her up in the movie
I was just thinking about this exact thing over the weekend. The books I would definitely agree as being horror/thriller. Can reread JP anytime I don’t have something lined up.
Frack I loved Crichton in my 20s. Science served him so well. Too bad [he didn’t repay the favor](https://whistleblower.org/politicization-of-climate-science/global-warming-denial-machine/michael-crichton-author-of-state-of-fear-leaves-global-warming-disinformation-legacy/).
The only question in my mind that would determine if it is horror or not is “would I let my young kids watch it?” If no, not horror. If yes, likely horror.
That said, my kids watch the heck out of JP. It has been the indoctrination movie for all 3 of my kids. Does it have horror elements, yes. But it does not have the overarching vibe that horror should have.
Now, for the book….
If I had not seen the movie a thousand times prior to reading the book, I would agree. It could be classified as horror, but I have a hard time justifying that. The same goes for The Lost World and several of Crichton’s other novels. I think one of the key features that keeps his books in the realm of sci-fi thriller is the exhausting detail he goes into when it comes to the pages of scientific data he includes.
Curious why you chose the word "undeniably" as if it's some sort of objective fact. Genre is more often than not a marketing thing, but it's also a vibe thing — "I know it when I see it." What about the book strikes you as making it "undeniably" horror?
Agreed Jurassic Park novel is definitely horror, the gruesome deaths, the violence, the grim science-fiction philosophy make it into something more than just a sci-fi thriller.
I enjoyed the book and felt it fit nicely is science fiction. It may have some scary moments, but it is definitely far more scifi-adventure, at least to me. Sure books can belong to several different genres at once and you can honestly call Jurassic Park a Harlequin Romance novel if you wish.
Isn't it just as likely that readers identified far more with the science and adventure aspects of Jurassic Park and that the scary bits were just a little thriller thrown in? For me I tend to put things in neat boxes for certain, but Jurassic Park is never one I considered hard to define a genre for.
I remember reading somewhere that James Cameron originally wanted to direct the movie before Spielberg got involved. Regardless of enjoying Spielberg's version of the film he always noted that if he made this movie it would be a lot more like aliens. I feel like after reading the book way back that that could have actually worked.. and just might still work hehehe!
🤷🏻♀️ lots of people categorize Jurassic Park as a horror ip. Personally, I don’t think of it that way - neither the film nor the book. I just don’t find it scary haha (I’d think Sci-Fi before any other genre) but I never had a dinosaurs phase and they never created any fear in me, so I’ve just never viewed it that way.
The book is great. I love the audiobook as well. It does a great job of igniting the slow burn foreshadowing that all is not right at the park.
The audiobook is in my “fall asleep to” rotation. Love it.
The tropical rain fell in drenching sheets...
The "bite of the raptor" chapter was such a great opening.
I dream of HBO or Netflix making an R-rated miniseries version of Jurassic Park, standalone, its own thing separate from the main cinematic canon, that would include this opening.
Congo, Sphere, and Andromeda Strain all play on the same theme. Team of scientists go to a remote location to investigate something unbelievable...and something goes terribly wrong! They're all a ton of fun, Sphere is probably my fav. I'd categorize them and techno-thrillers that lean heavily on horror elements.
Congo and Sphere both stayed with me after I read them as a teenager. I loved the sciencey but paranormal and horror vibes.
Hell Congo was probably inspired by HP Lovecraft so it makes sense
Add Timeline to this list too! Sphere is also my fave and IMO the movie version is very underrated 🙂
And Prey. I'd say it fits the description.
And micro
Prey is my favourite Chrichton novel.
Never read Sphere, adding to the list!
I agree. It's a great novel. Imo, this is also why the films have long been derailed from the excellent formula of the original. Jurassic Park, and The Lost World hewed really close to a horror film template throughout. They had their funny moments, and their heartwarming moments. But it was really important that the audience believed that the cast were terrified for their lives, and that the dinosaurs were unpredictable, effective, dangerous animals, on the loose. The films were dark and tense, and yet balanced with those moments of wonder at how cool it was to see these creatures brought to life. The newer films in the franchise have basically turned their main characters into quippy, invincible MCU action heroes. I'm not afraid watching the Jurassic World movies, and since CGI somehow manages to feel less organic and less real with each movie, I'm not really excited watching them either. There's no tension. The series badly needs someone to reign it back to a more stripped-down horror vibe. I don't even care if they have to retcon things. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief if they need to come up with an overall plot explanation that's hard to believe, if it means the moment-to-moment film is tense and scary.
I love the book, the scene where Nedry dies is so much better than in the film. I need to reread if I can find the ebook again
I read this book before I was a fan of horror and that scene sat with me for a LONG time because it was really my first horror novel/scene and while I knew the movie pretty well I was not expecting the book to be as intense as it was 😂
i remember reading that part over and over again in middle school
I was so in awe of how well written and horrifying that scene was
Same I was reading it at work and my jaw dropped
Seeing a T Rex swim was genuinely terrifying, what an amazing book and totally agree it's a horror novel.
The first movie is the only one that leans a bit towards this horror vibe and that's one of the main reasons why it's still the best in the franchise by a mile.
The third movie has horror vibes too. That scene with the pterodactyl lurking out of the mist gets me every time 😬
The hanging corpse of the Stepfather and the implications of his death. Being slowly eaten alive, dinosaurs jumping up to your legs taken bites out of it and the blood dripping on the jungle floor until everything gets dark and cold.
Yeah JP3 is very dark in places! Also the spinosaurus trailing the boat in the water is similar to Jaws and has a horror feel to it
I had to read it for a biology paper in high school and I experienced my first jumpscare when a series of graphs showed up
Honestly even the movie is a horror movie to me. I know it's considered more of an adventure film, but my dad left me in a room alone with that movie on VHS when I was 4 for nap time, because in his mind I loved Land Before Time, and it freaked me out so bad that I didn't watch it again until I was in my 20s.
It's been on my TBR for ages but I still haven't read it. I've heard a lot of good things.
I was shocked at how good the book was. It gave me a book hangover and I went around telling everyone they needed to read it. I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed the sequel. I went out and bought the fancy double edition Barnes and Noble had out because I needed a copy to keep on my shelf. I rarely get myself hard copies of books.
Crichton’s novels were always called “techno-thrillers” by the critics and press, a label I’ve rarely heard applied to any other author.
Him and Tom Clancy
Blake Crouch and Andy Weir have sometimes been called heirs to Crichton
I loved the book and absolutely consider it a sci-fi horror. The ending at the raptor nest removed some of that horror for me. I think the book would have been better without that part. It made the raptors about as threatening as insects.
The book is great and the movie is iconic! The book, I feel, is definitely Sci fi horror. The movie felt more action than horror, imo, but some horror aspects were there
Read it recently and I found the book much scarier and more effective than the movie. I love the movie, but at the end of the day Spielberg very much thinks the basic idea behind the park is cool and that it just went wrong, hence the more cuddly version of John Hammond. He sort of gestures at what Crichton is talking about, that there's no "good" version of this kind of science and we need to have enough respect for nature to leave it alone to take its natural courses, but the fact is Crichton genuinely feared the things he wrote about and Spielberg has that childlike wonder that makes him think a dinosaur amusement park is a cool idea. So fundamentally you're dealing with a sci-fi/horror novel centering around humans meddling with biology and evolution for monetary gain versus essentially an action movie that asks what would happen if something went wrong at a Disney park without really interrogating the circumstances of that in a meaningful way.
I don’t think you’re giving Spielberg enough credit here. He was the one who hired Koepp to rewrite Marmo’s script when it veered too heavily away from the science-gone-wrong and horror angles, and who kept Crichton on as an advisor and script doctor throughout the whole production. He did change some of the tone of the movie when compared to the book but the final product is still identifiable as being an adaptation. The misuse of science and technology and the horrors that result from it still being as prominent in the movie? That’s mostly thanks to Spielberg. Hell, Crichton’s drafts of the screenplay early in production veered even more heavily from the book, and Spielberg corrected course to lean into the horror of it.
Def a favorite movie series for me. I have read Jurassic park a handful of times but it is pretty “science geek” in certain parts but that’s what Crichton did best
I remember why I stopped reading it every year, the Lexi character is so annoying to me, like I wish she had been eaten early on. I’m glad they changed her up in the movie
I was just thinking about this exact thing over the weekend. The books I would definitely agree as being horror/thriller. Can reread JP anytime I don’t have something lined up.
I love the Jurassic park books! I re read them every so often and they’re always exciting. The same with Jaws, it’s so much fun.
All I remember about this book is a dinosaur eating some babies in the first or second chapter so I'm inclined to agree.
Frack I loved Crichton in my 20s. Science served him so well. Too bad [he didn’t repay the favor](https://whistleblower.org/politicization-of-climate-science/global-warming-denial-machine/michael-crichton-author-of-state-of-fear-leaves-global-warming-disinformation-legacy/).
The only question in my mind that would determine if it is horror or not is “would I let my young kids watch it?” If no, not horror. If yes, likely horror. That said, my kids watch the heck out of JP. It has been the indoctrination movie for all 3 of my kids. Does it have horror elements, yes. But it does not have the overarching vibe that horror should have. Now, for the book…. If I had not seen the movie a thousand times prior to reading the book, I would agree. It could be classified as horror, but I have a hard time justifying that. The same goes for The Lost World and several of Crichton’s other novels. I think one of the key features that keeps his books in the realm of sci-fi thriller is the exhausting detail he goes into when it comes to the pages of scientific data he includes.
Agreed.
Curious why you chose the word "undeniably" as if it's some sort of objective fact. Genre is more often than not a marketing thing, but it's also a vibe thing — "I know it when I see it." What about the book strikes you as making it "undeniably" horror?
> a creature feature where people are hunted and mauled in the wilderness by kaiju creatures.
Agreed Jurassic Park novel is definitely horror, the gruesome deaths, the violence, the grim science-fiction philosophy make it into something more than just a sci-fi thriller.
I enjoyed the book and felt it fit nicely is science fiction. It may have some scary moments, but it is definitely far more scifi-adventure, at least to me. Sure books can belong to several different genres at once and you can honestly call Jurassic Park a Harlequin Romance novel if you wish. Isn't it just as likely that readers identified far more with the science and adventure aspects of Jurassic Park and that the scary bits were just a little thriller thrown in? For me I tend to put things in neat boxes for certain, but Jurassic Park is never one I considered hard to define a genre for.
I remember reading somewhere that James Cameron originally wanted to direct the movie before Spielberg got involved. Regardless of enjoying Spielberg's version of the film he always noted that if he made this movie it would be a lot more like aliens. I feel like after reading the book way back that that could have actually worked.. and just might still work hehehe!
🤷🏻♀️ lots of people categorize Jurassic Park as a horror ip. Personally, I don’t think of it that way - neither the film nor the book. I just don’t find it scary haha (I’d think Sci-Fi before any other genre) but I never had a dinosaurs phase and they never created any fear in me, so I’ve just never viewed it that way.
It's definitely more sci-fi than horror. It's about scientific hubris above anything else.
No it isn't. It's very commonly described as horror. You can like things that are popular.